Botched Restoration of Fresco in Spain Inspires a Comic Opera

PARIS — Four years after a well-meaning widow in a Spanish town botched the restoration of a century-old fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns, the episode is being celebrated there with a comic opera performed by professional singers and a local choir.

The image in the altered fresco, “Ecce Homo” (“Behold the Man”), was likened to a monkey or a hedgehog, and it was mocked in memes widely shared on social media. But the derision ultimately turned into gratitude for the widow, Cecilia Giménez, now 86: The alterations had a divine effect on the economy of Borja, a struggling town of 5,000 people in northeast Spain, as Spanish and foreign tourists visited to view her handiwork.

A 45-minute abbreviated production of the opera, “Behold the Man,” will be staged on Saturday in the courtyard of the 16th-century Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy in Borja, where the fresco is encased on a wall, behind a clear cover.

The opera was written by two Americans, Andrew Flack, the librettist, and Paul Fowler, who composed the music. It tells the story of Ms. Giménez’s restoration attempt and how it turned into an economic miracle for the city.

The music seeks to reflect the wild nature of the internet, Mr. Fowler said. He cited among his inspirations “a Gregorian chant, a Spanish fandango, a Renaissance motet, a jota from Zaragoza, a classical chorus, an aria from the Zarzuela, a Flamenco tango, an indie-rock hook and a Swedish-house baseline.”

The opera begins with a fairly traditional aria sung by the Cecilia character, “It’s Faith That Guides My Brush,” and shifts to a song that evokes the style of Lady Gaga, “Come Getcho Ecce.”

“Because of how the internet took over this story, the music is the same,” Mr. Flack said. “We are using music that is 700 years old and seven minutes old.” A full production of the opera is planned on the fifth anniversary of the fresco’s transformation, in 2017.

Mr. Flack and Mr. Fowler thought of the idea for “Behold the Man” in September 2012, and they have been working on it since, giving a staged reading in the United States in 2014. This year they raised more than $22,000 through crowdfunding toward completing the production and translating it into Spanish from English. Local authorities are also helping to finance the production, which is part of a broader strategy to make sure the fresco remains a long-term tourist attraction.

This year, Borja inaugurated an interpretive art center at the sanctuary, where visitors can paint their own versions of “Ecce Homo.” The city has also devoted an art exhibition to Elías García Martínez, who painted the fresco, and to his two sons.